Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ DIY Heart Bird-Feeders ♥

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Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ The European Starling

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Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ Wine Bottle Bird-Feeders ~ "The Vineyard"

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Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ Purple Finch vs House Finch

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Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ Red-tailed Hawk

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Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ A bottle of red...

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Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ Woodpeckers: Hairy vs Downy

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Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ DIY Giant Sugar Pinecone Suet Feeder

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Snowbirds ♥

The snow (6.5 inches) has return this winter along with the Dark-eyed Juncos or Snowbirds. ♥

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” 

― John Steinbeck

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Wild Turkeys

Happy Thanksgiving from Rebecca's Bird Gardens 
...and from a few wild turkeys around our property that are thankful for not being part of the holiday!

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird ~ A constantly singing songbird...

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

-Maya Angelou

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The Dickcissel

Male Dickcissel

Since I've started taking notice of the birds surrounding my property - not just the ones that visit my bird-feeders - I've been amazed at the variety of species that occupy my rural Missouri backyard that I wasn't aware of before...

The Dickcissel is described by Audubon as a miniature meadowlark - which is what I thought I was photographing until I viewed the photos a little closer. It's a summer resident of the Midwest residing in open fields feeding on seeds and insects.

Female Dickcissel

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DIY Fruit and Hummingbird Feeders

Earlier this year I conducted a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give:  Creating a Bird Garden

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Butterfly Bush

I love watching the hummingbirds eat from their favorite flowers around my property: Trumpet Vine, Cardinal Flower, Columbine...  But to get the up-close views of a hummer, nothing beats a strategically placed feeder. - And this one costs only about $5.00! :)

Supplies:

• Copper wire - 6 or 8 gauge. Available at Home Depot for less than a $1.00 per foot. 8 gauge is easier to bend, but I prefer the look of 6 gauge. - About 2 feet.
• Glass bottle. A wine bottle is too large - it won't hold the seal of the feeder adapter. Opt for a smaller glass water or beer bottle.
• Bling or emlishments. Something red will attract and entice the hummers. Small gauge wire -available at craft stores to attach the pendent, decoration, etc...
• Hummingbird feeder tubes. You can occasionally find these at pet stores or I sell them in my Etsy shop 2 for $4.00. Here's the link: Rebecca's Bird Gardens (Etsy Shop)  
• Wire cutters, needle-nosed pliers.

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

How to:

Using the pliers (and a towel placed around the end of the wire to keep from scratching the copper), clamp the wire and bend a loop on one end. This gives you something to hold onto...  Start at the neck of the bottle and twist the wire around the bottle. Add another loop in the wire at the top of the bottle for hanging.

Add the embellishment and fill the bottle with a hummingbird nectar solution (1 part sugar dissolved in 4 parts water) - then add the feeder tube. Be sure to fill the bottle to the top with the solution - this creates a tight seal...

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

DIY Fruit Feeders

• Spiral Fruit Feeder:  Copper Wire: 8 gauge wrapped around a rolling pin to create a "fruit cage" to hold oranges, apples, etc...
• S Hook Fruit Feeder: Small stick with a hole drilled in the center. Wrap 8 gauge copper wire through the drilled hole creating an "S" shape for hanging.
• Sheppard's Hook Fruit Feeder: Small stick with a hole drilled in the center. Push the drilled portion of the stick through the hook then simply add assorted fruit...

Immature Male Summer Tanager

I invite you to "like" my Facebook page to see all the Market happenings and my latest DIY projects! Click on this link:

Rebecca's Bird Gardens (Facebook)

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DIY Summer Wreath Bird-Feeder

Earlier this year I conducted a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give:  Creating a Bird Garden

Blue Jay

In the class, I demonstrated a winter version of this feeder utilizing cuttings from shrubs and trees (cedar, holly, winterberry, chokecherry). Now that the sunflowers and wildflowers are going to seed, I thought that I would put together a summer feeder in the same fashion. 

For the complete DIY instructions, click here: DIY Winter Wreath Bird-Feeder

Supplies:

• Grapevine wreath - $2.50 (Wal-Mart)
• Splatter guard - $1.00 (Dollar Store)
• Jute (minimal cost)
• Cuttings from sunflowers, wildflowers, native grasses

How to:

Cut three pieces of jute about 50" in length. Divide the splatter guard into thirds. Make three small holes through the screen and connect the splatter guard to the wreath with the jute (the screen will hold birdseed in the finished feeder). I did end up spray painting the edge of the splatter guard brown because the shiny silver was annoyingly obvious. 

Bring the three strings up and tie into a loop. Braid the remaining string and tie another loop (which will hold the birdseed ♥).

Tuck cuttings from sunflowers and native wildflowers into the wreath. In addition to sunflower heads, I used Ashy Sunflowers, False Sunflowers, Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans.

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse ~ Carolina Chickadee

I also added a birdseed heart in the center of the feeder. - Here's the recipe: DIY Birdseed Wreaths
Add birdseed to the center of the feeder (on top of the splatter guard).

It seems to be a hit with my feathered visitors! ~ I'll have to come up with a fall version next. :)

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Bluebirds 2013

This is the second year I've had Bluebirds nest in one of my older green-roof birdhouses! We loved watching the couple work together to feed the young birds until they eventually fledged. Hopefully next year the parents or their offspring will return to one of the increasing number of bluebird houses I'm accumulating at my property!

Fledglings! 

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The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

This is probably my favorite "field" bird...  With its unusually long tail, they're easy to spot - especially when in flight. My southwest Missouri property is just on the edge of its summer range, but their numbers are plenty along the farm roads by my property. Someday I'll get a perfectly focused in-flight photo, but with their fast moving wings and tail - it might be a while!

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The Blue Grosbeak

Male and Female Blue Grosbeaks

This summer I've started taking survey of the birds surrounding my property - not just the faithful backyard feeder birds. I've realized that I live in a perfect bird habitat. There are fields (some farmland, some left wild), wooded areas and water (a pond and a river within walking distance). I remember years ago when I first created my butterfly garden. I would get so excited when a new butterfly was attracted to my flowers and host plants. Now it's birds...  It's so fun to not only view a new bird, but to capture it in a photo.

This summer I can add a new member to my "blue" birds (Blue Jays, Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings)...

The Blue Grosbeak!

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Community Chickens Post! ~ Native American Turkeys

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The Red-headed Woodpecker

The last time I saw a Red-headed Woodpecker around my property was back in 2005. And I wouldn't have believed that I did then, but I took some blurry photos that I saved as proof...

Last week I was watching the bluebirds perching on a fence about 1/2 mile from my house when this guy posed for a few photos! It was so exciting to see this bird that has dwindled in numbers over the years...  Hope to see more around here in the future!

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The Indigo Bunting

I love the loud sweet song of what I consider the prettiest "blue bird" around my property. I've always had an occasional visitor to a feeder, but this year there seems to be an abundance of these bright cheery birds. 

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states that male buntings often sing from telephone lines or wooded edges for hours on end. Each flock of buntings have a song library that is uniquely different from a neighboring flock even as close as a few hundred yards away...

To hear this beautiful bird's song, visit this link at birdJam...

Sounds of the Indigo Bunting

Male Indigo Bunting

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